mungee

Hello,
Been lurking on the forum for a while, finally bought a 2020 MDX Advanced w/ Ent.
The car is great!!

Over the past few weeks we noticed that when we move the driver's seat to memory position 2 (this is for the taller driver), the seat makes a crunching sound as if something is running/compressed. Memory Position 1 is fine.

Anyone else have this problem? Any solutions? Should I take it in to the dealer for this? Bought it in late October 2019 ?

Thank you.

ceb

Something stuck in the tracks? If not, then go to the dealer

Donn0128

First step, look under the seat with a flash light. Second step take it back. What I dont understand is when parked seat is all the way back, that is IF you have the feature turned on. So in that case the seat should always go all the way back when the engine is turned off. The noise should be present all the time. Do you have seat move back feature tuened on or off?

mungee

Thank you for the quick replies.

There is nothing under the seat, that was the first thing I checked when I heard the noise, I thought the kids may left a toy or a water bottle or something.

Yes, we we have turned on the easy entry/exit feature (both seat and steering wheel) for both drivers.

Driver 1 (key fob 1) is the most frequent user of the car, she is also the shorter driver. So when it defaults to driver 1's easy entry/exit position when she is done driving-no crunching.
Driver 2 (still using key fob 1) is taller, so when the car opens, it defaults to Driver 1's setting, I press Driver 2 on the door and the seat has to move further back (no sound) and then down (crunching sound)

mrgold35

My wife (4'11") and I (6'3") have our seat set to the max up and back for the memory settings for our 19 MDX Adv hybrid. It does make a noticeable creaking (no crunching) sound; that, sound like it is from the leather rubbing/flexing when moving back for me. I only hear the leather creaking sound when the seat starts to drop down after moving back. Zero sound when moving the seat up to the wife's position.

DJ Iceman

There's a TSB on this. Bring it to the dealer for a complimentary fix.

mungee

So I went to my closest Acura Dealer (this is NOT where I bought the vehicle from- coz they didn't have the exterior color we wanted!!). The dealer I bought the car from is 1.25 hours away in NJ traffic.

Service receptionist, "Since you didn't buy the car from us, we have to give priority to the folks who bought the car from us, I suggest you take the car back to the selling dealer, so you may not get a loaner..."

Service advisor 1, "Yes, I hear the crunching sound, will have a technician look at it, will give you a loaner if needed"

Technician, "I have been servicing Acura for 13 years, I hear the noise, it's not that bad, it's going to be a big job to take the driver's seat base apart, we may end up causing more problems than fixing it, I suggest you live with it, we will document it for you in the service notes, if it gets worse then come back"

So we came back home and now are living with a 2 month old 2020 MDX Advanced/Ent which makes a crunching noise when you adjust the seat!!!

I do understand that taking the seat apart looks like a big job, I saw the 2014 TSB that DJ Iceman was referring to, we love the car except for the 3 seconds of crunching sound that I hear when I adjust the seat to my position in the 2-3x a week that I drive it.

Is this a normal thing among Acura? It's kind of disappointing.

Donn0128

Good God no! We bought our MDX from a dealer 60 miles down the freeway. Our local dealer took my car in and has worked tirelessly on it to fix issues. They have gone to bat with corporate, their factory service rep everybody necessary to get me satisfied. The only reason I did not buy from them was I was shopping online and the dealer I bought from seemed to want to make a reasonable deal.
You need to find another dealer. You might also contact Acura customer relations and file a complaint.

ceb

That's absurd and I would have spoken to the service manager and taken their loaner until they fix it properly. At this point I'd be calling Acura and opening a case. You'll get a call from the service manager asking you when it is convenient for you to bring the car back.

Had they said "it is normal" then it would have been a bit different - but they said, in effect "yep, it isn't right, but we're completely incompetent and can't fix it without breaking something else, so go fly a kite"

It is up to you if you want to accept that answer.

mungee

Thank you for the great inputs, I called the Acura Client relations customer service line.

Puts me on hold and then gets back
So I guess I will be going into the dealer tomorrow and presenting by case to the service manager.

ceb

The first statement is partially correct. If you live more than a certain number of miles away from an Acura dealer, then you can go to a Honda dealer for warranty work although I believe you need to call Acura first.

You can go to any Acura dealer for warranty service - even if you have to drive by your selling dealer to get to the dealer of your choice.

Acura customer service is no better or worse than any other manufacturer in this segment.

Be firm with the service manager. It is their job (and only job) to satisfy the customer for warranty work. If the service manager is an ass, then go to the general manager.